Police: Disclosure of Information

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department has issued on whistle blowing policy in relation to individuals working in child protection in police authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not issue guidance on internal police policy; this is a matter for chief officers and their police authorities.
	However, the general practice is for police officers working in a multi-agency team who have concerns about work practices or the conduct of colleagues within the team, to raise these concerns through their usual management channels or with their Professional Standards Department, whom they may contact through a confidential line if necessary.
	If police officers suspect a fellow officer of acting in a way that could result in disciplinary or criminal proceedings, and feels unable to raise these concerns through usual procedures, they may raise their concerns within their force or directly to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, using their dedicated report line.

Police: Misconduct

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reasons the Metropolitan Police Authority gave to her Department for its decision not to conduct a full case review of Operation Helios.

Vernon Coaker: The implementation of the recommendations from the Morris Inquiry is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), who commissioned the inquiry.
	The Inquiry recommended that there should be an independent full case review of Operation Helios, to examine the issue of race discrimination. This coincided with an investigation conducted by Essex police, with Independent Police Complaints Commission oversight, into Operation Helios, which included in its terms of reference that "allegations of racism made by the complainants will be fully addressed"".
	On receipt of the report from Essex police, the Metropolitan Police Authority considered that no further action was required to meet the Morris Inquiry recommendation.

Police: Standards

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what costs she estimates would be incurred in holding elections for crime and policing representatives across England and Wales as proposed in the Policing Green Paper.

Alan Campbell: The Government have announced that they doe not intend to proceed with their proposals for directly elected crime and policing representatives at this time.

Procedures Relating to Soham Murders Inquiry

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the next progress report on the implementation of the Bichard Inquiry recommendations will be published.

Vernon Coaker: The Government reported on the outstanding Bichard Inquiry recommendations as part of its full response to the Magee Review of Criminality Information, which was presented to Parliament on 4 December 2008.
	Future updates on progress will be provided as part of reporting on the broader improvement agenda for criminality information recommended in the Magee Review.

Terrorism: Stop and Search

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been stopped and searched under the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 since it came into force.

Vernon Coaker: There are no powers contained within the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 to stop and search. Stops and searches are conducted under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
	Information on the number of these searches conducted from 2000-01 to 2006-07 (latest available) are provided in the table. Information for 2007-08 is due to be published in April 2009 and information for 2008-09 (when the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 came into force) is due to be published before the end of 2009-10.
	
		
			  Searches of pedestrians, vehicles and occupants under sections 44(1) and 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000( 1) ) England and Wales ,  2000-01  to  2006-07 
			  Number 
			   Stops and searches in order to prevent acts of terrorism (Total searches) 
			 2000-01 6,400 
			 2001-02 10,200 
			 2002-03 32,100 
			 2003-04 33,800 
			 2004-05(2) 37,000 
			 2005-06 50,000 
			 2006-07 41,900 
			 (1) Formerly sections 13A and 13B of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and repealed under the Terrorism Act 2000 (which came into force on 19 February 2001). (2) Figures updated since publication of the2004-05 Bulletin.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Recruitment

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the 50/50 recruitment policy regarding the Police Service of Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland to be concluded and replaced with the merit principle of recruitment.

Paul Goggins: As reaffirmed by the St. Andrews Agreement, our commitment to the continuation of the 50:50 provisions is strictly time bound and is focused on our objective of reaching 30 per cent. Catholic composition in the PSNI regulars by 2010-11. We remain on target to achieving this and ending the provision at that time.

Probation Board for Northern Ireland: Labour Turnover

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people  (a) were recruited to and  (b) retired from the Probation Board in Northern Ireland in 2008.

Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Probation Board for Northern Ireland, which operates independently of Government. I would encourage the hon. Member to write directly to Brian McCaughey, Director of Probation, PBNT, 80-90 North Street, Belfast, BT1 1LD.

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect Afghani parliamentarians who speak out in favour of the rights of women, children and other vulnerable populations from threats made against them; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 12 January 2009
	Together with our EU partners, the UK is committed to improving the human rights situation in Afghanistan. The Afghan government and judiciary are obliged by law to respect these commitments. As part of our broader efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Afghanistan, we are spending some £31 million on policing and rule of law activities during 2008-09.
	The duty of protecting Afghanistan's citizens, including legislators, lies first and foremost with the government of Afghanistan. Our continued presence in Afghanistan, providing both military (over 8,000 troops) and development/reconstruction assistance, helps to improve security for all of Afghanistan's citizens. As part of our wider efforts to improve the overall security situation and respect for law and order, we encourage the Afghan authorities to take seriously any credible threats against human rights defenders. Where appropriate, we also raise individual human rights cases with the government of Afghanistan, both publicly and in private. We also provide financial support to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, which promotes, protects and monitors human rights.

Departmental Pay

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the salary bill for the Scotland Office was for its staff in all locations in each quarter since 1999.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office do not hold records showing the breakdown of the salary bill by quarter, however the full year costs are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £000 
			  SO and OAG  
			 1999-2000(1) 1,976 
			 2000-01 3281 
			  SO only  
			 2001-02 2,459 
			 2002-03 2,842 
			 2003-04 2,571 
			 2004-05 2,182 
			 2005-06 1,888 
			 2006-07 1,889 
			 2007-08 2,250 
			 (1) Part year, the Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

Arts: Access

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps are being taken to increase the accessibility of high culture to working-class people.

Barbara Follett: My Department continues to work closely with sponsored bodies responsible for culture to ensure that funding over the SR08 period is used to support the Government's objective to increase participation in culture by adults from a lower socio-economic background.
	Arts Council England is conducting audience segmentation analysis to gather fresh data about which groups engage with the arts and will use this as the basis for a national campaign to encourage the broadest range of people to do so. English Heritage is also looking at barriers to engagement with the historic environment experienced by people in lower socio-economic groups. Through the Renaissance in the Regions programme the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) is seeking to increase participation and achieve greater diversity amongst the visitors to regional hub museums across England. Entry to DCMS-sponsored national museums and galleries has been free for all since 2001.
	In September last year, 10 pathfinder Find Your Talent projects were set up with an investment of £25 million to test various ways to deliver a five-hour cultural offer to ensure that all children and young people aged 0-19 can access a wide range of high-quality artistic and cultural experiences. In November 2008, my Department announced the Free Theatre initiative which offers free tickets to young people up to age 26. Evaluations of the annual 'Heritage Open Days' initiative, indicate a Department for significant increase in visitors from the lower socio-economic groups in 2006 and 2007 to those sites where records allow comparison with previous years.
	The DCMS 'Taking Part' survey is being used to measure participation by adults from the priority groups. The most recent results, published in December 2008, indicate that the proportion of adults from lower socio-economic backgrounds attending a museum or gallery during the previous 12 months was 30.6 per cent., a 2.3 per cent. increase compared to the baseline established in 2005-06. For visits to historic environment sites the comparable figures were 59.4 per cent. attendance, an increase of 2.3 per cent. on the 2005-06 baseline. Attendance at arts events was 18.3 per cent. of this group with no significant statistical change on the baseline.

Gaming: Licensing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what changes he plans to make to licensing guidelines concerning gaming codes.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Gambling Commission have advised that on 1 October 2008 following an extensive consultation exercise, they published a revised version of their Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), which came into effect on 1 January 2009.
	The LCCP can be viewed at the following web link:
	http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/Client/detail.asp?Contentld=103
	Since the publication of LCCP, the Gambling Commission has consulted on proposals to add a new licence condition and code of practice provision to LCCP. These proposals set out the requirement that holders of different categories of premises licences ensure that the gambling activity which corresponds to the licence type is actually offered as the primary activity at those premises. A supplement to LCCP setting out any new conditions and codes relating to this consultation will be published in due course.

ICT: Reviews

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what dates the Digital Britain Steering Board has met; what dates have been set for future meetings; which members of the Board were present at each meeting; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the most recent meeting.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 19 January 2009
	The Digital Britain Steering Board has met on the following dates: 14, 21, 28 November 2008, 5, 12 December 2008 and 9, 14 January 2009.
	Further meetings are scheduled for: 23 January, 29 January, 13 February, 27 February, 13 March, 27 March, 10 April, 24 April, 8 May and 22 May 2009.
	The meetings are confidential and it would therefore not be appropriate to publish attendance or the minutes.

United Utilities: Sports

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if he will discuss with United Utilities the effect on  (a) Darwen Cricket Club and  (b) other sports clubs of recent increases in water charges;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the increases in water charges being imposed by United Utilities on  (a) sports and  (b) other clubs in the north-west; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I am aware of this issue and will—along with my hon. Friend the Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment—be seeking a meeting with Ofwat to establish what options are available to ensure community sports clubs are not disproportionately affected by these charges.
	I have also asked Sport England to see whether there is any systematic help they can provide to ensure community sports clubs' water charges have been calculated correctly.

Olympic Games 2012: Voluntary Organisations

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what mechanisms are in place to encourage existing volunteer organisations to take part in work in preparation for and during the London 2012 Olympics.

Tessa Jowell: The Government, through the Office for the Third Sector and the Government Olympic Executive, and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games have been encouraging volunteering organisations to take part in work in preparation for, during and after London 2012 since the early stages of the bid to win the games, through hosting a number of events at both ministerial and official level.
	The Government's ambition to maximise the opportunities for a volunteering legacy from the games is reflected in our legacy promise to get thousands more young people giving time to their communities as a result of 2012. This has recently translated into my launch of the "2012 Challenge" in December 2008, a public commitment by Government and key third sector organisations to work together to ensure this ambition is realised.

Broadcasting

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with  (a) the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and  (b) the Welsh Assembly Government on (i) the future of public sector broadcasting and (ii) the implementation of digital switchover in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and I regularly meet ministerial colleagues and Welsh Assembly Government colleagues to discuss issues affecting Wales, including broadcasting and digital switchover.
	As Minister for Digital Inclusion, I am keenly aware of the various issues that surround these subjects and have also met with representatives of various stakeholders—such as the Office of Communication (Ofcom), the BBC, ITV and S4C—to hear their views.
	In addition, my officials are actively involved in a number of cross Government groups, which include representation from the Welsh Assembly Government, that discuss and monitor the ongoing Switchover process. The Wales Office was also involved in discussions that surrounded the recent review of public service broadcasting being undertaken by Ofcom. Through this work, we will continue to ensure that Wales has a strong voice in these important issues.

Departmental Written Questions

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in his Department have used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700.

Paul Murphy: None

Offenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many former prisoners are employed by his Department; and what his Department's policy is on employing former prisoners.

Paul Murphy: The majority of staff working in the Wales office are seconded from other Government departments. Therefore, the individuals home department under The Civil Service Management Code carries out the necessary security checks. Sections 1.1.5 and 1.1.6 deals specifically with checks before appointment.

Departmental Data Protection

Paul Holmes: To ask the Leader of the House how many members of staff in her Office have been  (a) investigated,  (b) suspended and  (c) dismissed for losing (i) memory sticks, (ii) laptop computers, (iii) desktop computers and (iv) mobile telephones belonging to her Office in each year since 1997.

Chris Bryant: There have been no further losses following the answer I gave on 12 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1262W, namely that since June 2007, one laptop has been reported stolen from the Leader of the House of Commons Office. The laptop was used to update the office website and did not contain any personal data or other sensitive information. No data has been lost. No members of staff in the Leader's Office have been investigated, suspended or dismissed for losing memory sticks, laptop computers, desktop computers and mobile phones.
	Following a machinery of government change, information prior to 2006-07 is available only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel were stationed in Northern Ireland on 1 January 2009.

Bob Ainsworth: On 1 January 2009, there were some 4,510 armed forces personnel stationed in Northern Ireland.

Ex-servicemen: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities are provided to former servicemen and women with post-combat stress disorder living in  (a) London and  (b) North Yorkshire.

Kevan Jones: The health care for all veterans has been the responsibility of the NHS since 1953. Former service personnel with mental health problems, including post traumatic stress disorder will benefit from the Government's decision to extend priority treatment to all veterans whose condition is considered by their GP to be due to service. Veterans are also designated as a Special Interest Group (SIG) in the Department of Health's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Programme. This will train 3,600 new therapists by 2010-11 in England. Additionally, five NHS trusts across the UK are piloting a new model of mental health care for veterans, one of which is located in Camden and Islington, and another one is based at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. These will provide a holistic service with social support networks complementing health care. Since 1996, the NHS Trauma Service in Hull has worked with veterans to develop and raise awareness of a suitable care pathway.
	The MOD also provides a Medical Assessment Programme at St. Thomas's hospital for those that have concerns about their health due to service, since 1982.

White Phosphorous

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the size of the stockpile of white phosphorous shells held by the armed forces is; and what criteria control the use of such shells.

Quentin Davies: UK armed forces possess white phosphorus munitions for the purpose of producing a smoke screen to provide cover and thus protection for our soldiers on the battlefield. These are conventional munitions that are not outlawed or banned by any convention or protocol. I am withholding information on the size of the stockpile of these munitions on the grounds that its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces. UK training in the use of white phosphorus emphasises that it should be used solely for its intended purpose and not as an anti-personnel weapon.

Statutory Services: Over-60s

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statutory services for which her Department is responsible borough councils will be required to provide to those aged over 60 in 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The Government, through their Supporting People programme, fund a variety of non-statutory services for older people, through local authorities. The SP programme, created in 2003, is administered through top tier local authorities, many of which are borough councils. Over 800,000 older people are supported to live independently through this programme, and services provided include home improvement agency and handyperson services, and wardens. However, it is for local authorities to determine how to best meet the support needs identified in their communities and Communities and Local Government does not prescribe any particular model of support or services
	In addition, Disabled Facilities Grant is a mandatory grant used to provide adaptations to the homes of disabled people and older people to live independently in their homes. Adaptations include improving access to a home, and to the basic facilities within a home, for example by providing ramps, door widening, stair lifts and level access showers. Each year, around 35,000 people benefit from a Disabled Facilities Grant. This Government have substantially increased the Government funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant programme from £57 million in 1997 to £156 million in 2009-10. Local authorities also contribute towards the cost of adaptations from their own resources.

Domestic Visits: Wellingborough

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in what capacity she visited Wellingborough constituency on 5 December 2008; whether the costs of her travel were met by the public purse; and whether she travelled by ministerial car.

Sadiq Khan: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited Wellingborough in a non-ministerial capacity. The cost of travel was not met by the public purse and a ministerial car was not used.

Homelessness: Eastbourne

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in the Eastbourne borough council area were recorded as  (a) homeless and  (b) rough sleepers in the months of (i) December and (ii) January in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected includes the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	The hon. Member's question asks for figures for the months of December and January. The total number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty ('acceptances') are collected on a quarterly rather than monthly basis, and numbers in temporary accommodation are a snapshot as at the end of each quarter. Monthly data is therefore not available, but data are provided in the following tables for the last (October to December) and first (January to March) quarters of each year since 1997:
	
		
			  October to December quarter 
			   Acceptances October to December quarter  Temporary accommodation as at December 31 
			 1997 130 322 
			 1998 133 386 
			 1999 73 327 
			 2000 113 404 
			 2001 79 356 
			 2002 46 327 
			 2003 73 331 
			 2004 73 285 
			 2005 55 144 
			 2006 36 169 
			 2007 46 152 
		
	
	
		
			  January to March quarter 
			   Acceptances January to March quarter  Temporary accommodation as at March 31 
			 1997 109 252 
			 1998 96 346 
			 1999 119 326 
			 2000 108 339 
			 2001 138 392 
			 2002 52 351 
			 2003 76 274 
			 2004 70 246 
			 2005 35 137 
			 2006 38 145 
			 2007 50 136 
			 2008 28 159 
		
	
	Mid-year rough sleeping estimates have been published annually since 1998, and give a snapshot of the number of people sleeping rough on a single night, based on local authority street counts in those areas where there is a known or suspected rough sleeping problem. Rough sleeping estimates for Eastbourne borough council are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of rough sleepers in Eastbourne borough council (mid-year estimate) 
			 1998 11 
			 1999 3 
			 2000 1 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 0 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 3 
			 2005 3 
			 2006 6 
			 2007 6 
			 2008 0

Homelessness: Eastbourne

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeless  (a) children and  (b) adults in the Eastbourne Borough Council area were placed in temporary accommodation in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level, about households rather than individuals.
	Data collected includes the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	Information on the number of households housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The figures include: those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority, and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
	The number of dependent children (or expected children) in these households is also collected, but data on the number of adults is not. Figures for total households, households with dependent children and total children reported by the Eastbourne borough council over the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Households, households with children, and children in temporary accommodation, as at end March each year 
			   Total households in TA arranged by local authority  Total households in TA arranged with dependent (and expected) children  Total children (and expected children) within theses households( 1) 
			 2003-04 246 205 — 
			 2004-05 137 54 82 
			 2005-06 145 67 100 
			 2006-07 136 76 127 
			 2007-08 159 96 163 
			 (1) Children in TA was not collect until the 2(nd) quarter 2004.

Non-domestic Rates: Greater London

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 30 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1284W, on non-domestic rates: valuation, how many sub-locations there are in each billing authority in Greater London.

John Healey: The number of sub-location codes in use in each billing authority in Greater London is provided in the following table. Further analysis would not be possible except at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Sub-location codes in London as at December 2008 
			  Billing authority  2005 rating lists 
			 Barking and Dagenham 466 
			 Barnet 812 
			 Bexley 263 
			 Brent 953 
			 Bromley 330 
			 Camden 980 
			 City of London 2,357 
			 Croydon 474 
			 Ealing 722 
			 Enfield 654 
			 Greenwich 275 
			 Hackney 1,114 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,251 
			 Haringey 638 
			 Harrow 839 
			 Havering 593 
			 Hillingdon 1,200 
			 Hounslow 810 
			 Islington 1,365 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,322 
			 Kingston upon Thames 213 
			 Lambeth 349 
			 Lewisham 212 
			 Merton 220 
			 Newham 449 
			 Redbridge 787 
			 Richmond upon Thames 205 
			 Southwark 386 
			 Sutton 343 
			 Tower Hamlets 759 
			 Waltham Forest 817 
			 Wandsworth 329 
			 Westminster 5,869 
			 Total 28,356

Fisheries: Manpower

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people who are  (a) directly and  (b) indirectly employed by the UK fishing fleet.

Huw Irranca-Davies: UK fisheries administrations estimate that at the end of 2007 there were 12,700 people directly employed in the fish-catching sector, either on a full or part-time basis.
	The UK Sea Fish Industry Authority (SEAFISH) has published an analysis (in January 2008) that estimates that if the whole of the sea fishing sector were removed, a total of around 29,000 full-time equivalent jobs would be lost initially, including the 12,700 catching jobs, dependent upstream and downstream jobs and jobs in the wider economy which depend indirectly on these jobs.
	Estimating the number of related jobs onshore whose existence can be attributed at least in part to the UK catching sector alone is complicated by the high levels of imported fish upon which jobs in our processing sector depend. Around 90 per cent. of whitefish processed within the EU is sourced from outside EU waters. SEAFISH estimates that there are around 15,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the UK fish-processing sector.
	The full report on economic impacts of the UK sea fishing and fish processing sectors is available via the Seafish website.

Fishing Catches

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average weight of discards per year per UK fishing vessel has been over the last 10 years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: UK fisheries laboratories send observers to sea to record the quantity of fish discarded and retained by fishing vessels. This sampling is intended to provide estimates of discards of the main commercial species. It is only possible to sample a small proportion of fishing trips in this way. For this reason the sampling effort tends to be focussed on those fisheries which are of relatively large scale, and which usually involve some discarding. There are a large number of fisheries which are small in scale and/or involve little or no discarding, which are not routinely sampled. These include many shellfish fisheries, fisheries for pelagic species such as mackerel and herring, and in particular inshore fisheries involving vessels less than 10 metres in length. Vessels in this latter category form the majority of the UK fishing fleet. As a result, estimates of discards given as weight per vessel may not be representative. Estimates of discards by UK vessels for some important fish stocks are given for 1998 to 2007 (where available), and numbers of fishing vessels registered in the UK over the same period are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Estimated discards of North sea stocks by vessels registered in Scotland (Sco) and England, Wales and Northern Ireland (EWN), 1998 to 2007 
			  Tonnes 
			   Species 
			   Cod  Haddock  Whiting  Plaice  Sole 
			   Vessels 
			   Sco  EWN  Sco  EWN  Sco  EWN  EWN  EWN 
			 1998 10,287 — 35,134 — 8,861 — — — 
			 1999 2,991 — 35,270 — 15,563 — — — 
			 2000 4,141 — 39,745 — 16,211 — — — 
			 2001 4,440 — 86,297 — 8,869 — — — 
			 2002 1,519 — 32,196 — 8,315 — — — 
			 2003 1,086 — 18,555 — 5,931 — — — 
			 2004 1,266 430 12,834 371 5,765 2,023 547 33 
			 2005 1,169 604 7,412 168 5,547 683 122 1 
			 2006 1,671 581 14,671 310 4,457 1,385 351 37 
			 2007 11,892 221 24,671 322 3,383 541 136 37 
		
	
	
		
			  Estimated discards of west of Scotland stocks by vessels registered in Scotland, 1998 to 2007 
			  Tonnes 
			   Species 
			   Cod  Haddock  Whiting 
			 1998 289 4,801 4,232 
			 1999 62 4,060 2,015 
			 2000 410 6,875 4,831 
			 2001 139 6,087 1,561 
			 2002 110 7,151 1,257 
			 2003 27 3,649 1,283 
			 2004 56 4,072 2,445 
			 2005 45 2,677 828 
			 2006 322 4,453 647 
			 2007 1,107 3,405 312 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of fishing vessels registered in the UK, 1997 to 2007 
			   Under 10 metres  10 metres+  Total 
			  2,436 6,022 8,458 
			 1998 2,244 6,027 8,271 
			 1999 2,123 5,916 8,039 
			 2000 2,049 5,769 7,818 
			 2001 2,006 5,715 7,721 
			 2002 1,805 5,773 7,578 
			 2003 1,684 5,412 7,096 
			 2004 5,394 1,628 7,022 
			 2005 5,134 1,582 6,716 
			 2006 5,203 1,549 6,752 
			 2007 5,236 1,527 6,763

Rural Development Programme

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 30 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1183-6W, on the Rural Development programme, if he will provide the figures requested where England Rural Development programme legacy payments were made after 1 January 2007.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table shows the value of England Rural Development programme (ERDP) socio-economic scheme legacy projects for which each Regional Development Agency is committed to fund since 1 January 2007. The ERDP closed for applications under those schemes in June 2006. Funding for the legacy projects comes from budgets for RDPE 2007-13.
	
		
			  Regional development agency   Up to £5000  £5001 -  £100,000  £100,001 -  £1 million  £1 million plus 
			  Advantage West Midlands Axis 1 42,458 1,455,637 3,540,202 0 
			  Axis 3 25,562 4,650,208 3,270,059 1,052,441 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  East of England Development Agency Axis 1 22,233 578,711 1,608,141 0 
			  Axis 2 0 0 233,757 0 
			  Axis 3 867 979,757 877,811 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  East Midlands Development Agency Axis 1 21,950 619,196 2,461,063 0 
			  Axis 3 26,602 1,130,369 486,873 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  North West Development Agency Axis 1 26,231 899,641 1,174,181 0 
			  Axis 3 19,881 862,124 25,920 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  One North East Axis 1 9,000 547,000 1,128,000 0 
			  Axis 3 5,000 1,874,000 1,076,000 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  South East England Development Agency Axis 1 23,654 1,314,369 2,614,079 0 
			  Axis 3 0 1,608,485 438,301 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			   
			   
			   
			  South West of England Development Agency Axis 1 21,452 616,777 1,455,953 0 
			  Axis 3 20,452 977,273 587,086 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
			  Yorkshire Forward Axis 1 2,435 352,795 327,871 0 
			  Axis 3 7,762 611,182 374,218 0 
			  Leader 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	The following table is a correction to the answer of 30 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1183-6W, as it relates to funding commitments under Axis 1, 3 and the Leader Axis of the Rural Development programme for England made by the East of England Development Agency since 1 January 2007.
	
		
			  Regional Development Agency   Up to £5000  £5001 -£100,000  £100,001 -£1 million  £1 million plus 
			  East of England Development Agency Axis 1 22,233 (0%) 674,729 (53%) 2,081,851 (82%) 12,565,196 (93%) 
			  Axis 2 0 0 233,757 (20%) 0 
			  Axis 3 867 (0%) 979,757 (1%) 877,811 (0%) 0 
			  Leader 0 0 730,000 (100%) 20,124,765 (99%)

Sharks: Conservation

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals his Department plans to put forward at the next European Fisheries Council on measures to protect sharks and other endangered or threatened species from the impact of over-fishing.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The UK Government expressed support for the conservation principles underpinning the European Commission's original proposals on elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays). At the 2008 European Fisheries Council which was held on 17-19 December, the UK Government achieved a balanced package of technical and conservation measures which discourages further the targeting of vulnerable sharks, skates and rays while also recognising the importance of avoiding unnecessary discards. The final agreed package also reflects that the UK achieved a balance between the need to conserve elasmobranchs for the long- term with the need to safeguard the livelihoods of the UK fishing fleets and their local communities whose viable future depends on the sustainable exploitation of these stocks.
	The 2009 Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for sharks were significantly reduced to reflect the vulnerable state of these species. Spurdog was cut by 50 per cent. and porbeagle by 25 per cent. In addition to reduced TACs, appropriate technical measures were also introduced such as setting maximum landing sizes to protect larger females and encouraging the timely release of these animals to aid their future survival and subsequent recovery of the stock.
	The final package for skates and rays included a TAC for area VI and VII set at the historic baseline, but without the anticipated 15 per cent. TAC cut applied. Contrary to UK expectations, the 25 per cent. by-catch provision was only retained for vessels over 15 m long in the North sea and not in other areas. Also within this package, common skate, undulate rays and white skate caught in relevant nominated International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) zones(1), and angel shark in all European Community waters, should not be retained on board. The proposal requires that catches of these species shall be promptly released unharmed.
	(1) Area lla and IV: Common Skate; Area Vlld: Common Skate, Undulate Ray; Area VI a-b, VII a-c, e-k: Undulate Ray, Common Skate, Norwegian Skate and White Skate

Water Charges: Religious Buildings

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will meet representatives of  (a) churches,  (b) voluntary and community groups and  (c) charities to discuss surface area water charges; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA is in contact with interested parties. The Government are aware of the problem of affordability faced by some customers as a result of the switch to site area charging for surface water drainage and is looking at what can be done.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford's letter of 13 October 2008, Treasury Reference: 1/6189/2008, concerning Mr. Richard Macaskill of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply.

Ian Pearson: Due to the large volume of correspondence received on these issues there has been a delay in sending some responses. The Treasury hopes to be in a position to reply to the hon. Member shortly.

Aviation: Compensation

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1285W, on aviation: compensation, whether he has concluded his review of protection of air passengers; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government's work on short-term measures to improve passengers' experience in any future airline or tour operator failure is nearing completion. This work has comprised:
	a study of the feasibility of using an insolvent airline's aircraft and crew to return passengers home. This has concluded that the temporary prolongation of the life of a failed airline to carry out repatriation is unlikely to the best solution even if operationally convenient, because of the need to settle the airline's outstanding liabilities and indemnify the administrator against potential losses from operating the airline.
	exploring better information for consumers to increase awareness of their options for protection against airline or tour operator insolvency when making a booking. I expect this work to come to fruition shortly. Concurrent measures to improve the information provided to ATOL-protected passengers on their travel paperwork aim to enforce increased awareness of their rights.
	exploring ways to improve the information flow to passengers abroad in the event of airline or tour operator failure, especially about the availability of special repatriation fares with other airlines.
	monitoring the development of the insurance market. Since the failure of the XL Leisure Group, demand has led to increased availability of Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance either as a stand-alone product or as an optional or standard part of a travel insurance policy.
	The Government have not yet reached decisions on whether any longer term changes are necessary but is continuing to discuss this with stakeholders.

Haulage: Carbon Emissions

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent to assist road haulage companies to reduce  (a) greenhouse gas emissions,  (b) other emissions and  (c) fuel costs in the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport assists the road haulage industry through two key programmes, the Freight Best Practice (FBP) programme and the Safe And Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) programme. These provide advice, tools and training programmes which reduce CO2 and other emissions as a direct consequence of reduced consumption of fossil fuel. We have invested 7 million in FBP and 7.5 million in SAFED since 2003. The latest assessment of the effectiveness of the programmes in 2006 showed them to have saved around 120,000 tonnes of CO2 and 52,000 tonnes of CO2 respectively each year since 2005.
	The Department for Transport funding for these programmes applies to England only. The current FBP programme has the facility to be supported by funding from the Devolved administrations while maintaining a single management process. This is proving attractive and cost-effective for them with Scotland and Northern Ireland currently funding specific programme activities for their areas.

Railways: Adlington

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent changes to the timetable for rail services from Adlington to  (a) Manchester and  (b) Preston on commuters using the services.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport meets Northern Rail on a four weekly basis to review delivery of rail services and their ability to meet passenger requirements, particularly noting timetable changes.

Railways: Overcrowding

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1189W, on railways: overcrowding, when the refurbishment programme will be completed; and whether the 13 per cent. increase in seating capacity will also apply during rush hour periods.

Paul Clark: The refurbishment programme is contracted to be completed by 31 December 2010.
	Seating capacity of all East Midlands Trains 'Class 158' trains will be increased by 13 per cent. as part of the interior refurbishment. Therefore, this increased capacity will be available on all services operated by these trains.

Roads: Trans-European Networks

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the quality of those sections of the Trans-European Road network which lie within the UK.

Paul Clark: The Highways Agency (HA), on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, is the highway authority for the strategic road network in England, which includes the vast majority of the Trans European Road Network (TERN) in England.
	The Highways Agency is responsible for ensuring that the strategic road network is maintained in a safe and reliable condition. As part of this, they undertake an annual survey of the network.
	The condition of the Trans European Rail Network in Scotland and Wales is the responsibility of Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Assembly Government respectively.

Roads: Trans-European Networks

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his duties are in respect of the section of the Trans-European Road Network which lies within the UK.

Paul Clark: The Trans-European NetworkTransport (TEN-T) programme finances infrastructure projects and studies for roads and other transport modes on the TEN-T network.
	The Department for Transport has policy responsibility for the TEN-T programme, representing and pursuing the UK interests in Brussels.
	The Department for Transport are also responsible for co-ordinating and presenting bids for funding from the programme for UK infrastructure projects. These can come from a variety of project sponsors including the devolved Administrations, regional assemblies and the Highways Agency. In 2007, we secured 80.71 million funding for a road package comprising works in England and Northern Ireland.

Speed Limits

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has commissioned or evaluated on the introduction of speed suppressors into cars and lorries to enable those vehicles to keep within speed limits; and what his policy is on the use of such equipment.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport recently completed research into intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) systems, the main aim of which was to look at the effect on driver behaviour over time. This found that ISA has the potential to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our roads, suggesting that ISA could be a useful road safety feature for drivers who wish to use it.
	The results were published on 15 September 2008 and the final report and an executive summary were placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The report is also available on the internet at:
	www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/intelligentspeedadapt.
	Data from this work has subsequently been used by the Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists' Forum for independent research looking at speed limit adherence and its effect on road safety and climate change. The Department was represented in an advisory capacity on the working group for this research. We have received a copy of their report which was published on 30 December 2008. We are clear that any future use of ISA should be taken forward by the motoring industry in response to consumer demand, just as with other technologies available for consumers to purchase if they so choose. We are working with industry and other stakeholders to facilitate the future availability of the technology.

Departmental Accounts

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Ilford North of 20 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 755-6W, how much was spent under each resource account code in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Douglas Alexander: A summary of the main categories of expenditure is included in the Department for International Development's (DFID) Resource Accounts for 2006-07 (published in July 2007) and 2007-08 (published in July 2008). These are available on the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

Public Lavatories: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps she is taking to increase the provision in public buildings of toilets fully accessible to those with disabilities; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Communities and Local Government are responsible for the Building Regulations 2000. In line with the Disability Discrimination Act, Part M of the Building Regulations (section 5.5Provision of Toilet Accommodation) states the requirement that, toilet accommodation must be suitable for disabled people as well as other people who use public buildings.

Ministers: Official Residences

Eric Pickles: To ask the Prime Minister with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 10 November 2008,  Official Report, column 823W, on Ministers: official residences, what plans he has to bring forward proposals to repeal those provisions of the Greater London Highways and Road Traffic (Various Provisions) Order 2000 which exempt South Eaton Place from standard parking controls.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	62 South Eaton Place is protected as part of the Whitehall security zone because it was my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett's) place of residence during his time as Home Secretary. In February 2008, Westminster city council submitted an application to the Department for Transport to have the Whitehall security zone reduced to Whitehall and the streets leading from it. The Metropolitan Police Service have now agreed with Westminster's application to reduce the security zone. When the Department receives a formal request to amend the Greater London Highways and Road Traffic (Various Provisions) Order 2000 it will do so.

Broadband Stakeholders Group

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what  (a) administrative and  (b) financial support his Department has provided for the Broadband Stakeholders Group since it was established.

Patrick McFadden: This Department contributes to the overall costs of the Broadband Stakeholders' Group (BSG) with the remaining costs being provided by public sector membership subscriptions and support from Intellect. The Government's contribution totalled approximately 820,000 over the last five and a half years and the annual percentage contribution from Government have been reduced during this time. The support is for operational and some specific project costs.
	This Department does not provide administrative support to the BSG but has representation on the BSG Executive Committee.
	The BSG helps advise the Government on Broadband issues of the day and provides an Industry/Government forum for exploring issues relating to the knowledge based economy, and utilisation of digital technologies.

Departmental Sick Leave

Robert Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many working days have been lost due to sickness amongst employees for which his Department is and its predecessor department was responsible for each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: Cabinet Office has introduced a revised format for reporting sickness absence statistics across the civil service. The new format was introduced at the end of March 2008 and the first report covers the calendar year 2007. It indicates 6.1 average working days lost per employee lost due to sickness.
	Sickness absence data for the Department's predecessor, the Department of Trade and Industry, for 2006-07, 2005, 2004 and 2003, including the average number of days taken as sick leave, is published on the public civil service website:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/statistics/sickness.asp
	along with data for other Departments and agencies.
	Earlier sickness data are not readily available and the cost of producing this would be disproportionate to the benefit to be derived.

It's Your Call Road Show

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to his Department's press release of 18 November 2008, what the budget is for the It's Your Call Road Show; when the road show will  (a) commence and  (b) conclude; which are the 28 towns and cities it will visit; and what were the criteria by which those locations were selected.

Patrick McFadden: The budget for the 'Its Your Call' road show is 250,000. The road show was launched on 18 November and commenced in Cardiff on 19 November, it will conclude on 7 February 2009. During this time the road show is visiting; Cardiff, Bristol, Newport, Swansea, Stirling, Kilmarnock, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Norwich, Peterborough, Leicester, Derby, Liverpool, Blackburn, Manchester, Coventry, Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, London, Portsmouth and Plymouth. We have chosen locations which have a large number of low paid workers as we want to reach as many people as possible who could be affected by the minimum wage.

Public Bodies: Billing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009 to Question 244582, when he expects the first complete figures on performance in making payments to suppliers within 10 days to be available.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 19 January 2009
	 Government Departments will report performance against the new 10-day payment target in their annual reports, following the established procedure for reporting 30-day payment performance.
	Achieving the new 10-day target requires changes in systems, guidance and behaviour in both departmental and supplier systems. It is therefore important that we monitor initial progress and I have asked Departments to collect interim data for the months of November and December and then for the quarter ending March 2009. I expect this data to be available at the end of January 2009 and by the end of April 2009 respectively.

Small Businesses: North West

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small to medium-sized enterprises were registered in  (a) the North West,  (b) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council area and  (c) Cheadle constituency in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 18 December 2008
	 Estimates of the number of registered small to medium-sized enterprises, in each of the last five years, are not available below the regional level.
	Only data for businesses of all sizes registered for VAT is published by BERR. It is estimated that the majority (97.9 per cent.) of these will be small (with fewer than 50 employees) and a further 1.7 per cent. will be medium-sized (with 50-249 employees).
	The number of businesses registered for VAT in Stockport metropolitan borough, Cheadle and the North West for the start of 1997 to the start of 2008 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Start of year stock of VAT-registered businesses, 1997-2008 
			  Start of year  Cheadle parliamentary constituency  Stockport  North West region 
			 1997 2,475 7,840 160,165 
			 1998 2,525 7,935 162,685 
			 1999 2,590 8,095 165,080 
			 2000 2,615 8,130 167,085 
			 2001 2,630 8,315 169,040 
			 2002 2,645 8,370 170,730 
			 2003 2,710 8,485 172,650 
			 2004 2,755 8,665 176,900 
			 2005 2,790 8,830 180,355 
			 2006 2,860 9,020 184,725 
			 2007 2,910 9,165 188,735 
			 2008 3,015 9,435 194,695 
			  Source: BERR National Statistics publication Business start-ups and closures: VAT registrations and de-registrations 2007 available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/index.htm 
		
	
	The number of VAT-registered businesses in Stockport metropolitan borough rose from 7,840 at the start of 1997 to 9,435 at the start of 2008a rise of 20 per cent.
	The number of VAT-registered businesses in Cheadle rose from 2,475 at the start of 1997 to 3,015 at the start of 2008a rise of 22 per cent.
	The number of VAT-registered businesses in the North West rose from 160,165 at the start of 1997 to 194,695 at the start of 2008a rise of 22 per cent.
	VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was 64,000 at the start of 2007. Only 1.96 million out of 4.7 million UK enterprises (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2007.

Working Hours: EU Law

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the implications of the European Parliament's vote on the Working Time Directive on 17 December 2008 for his Department's policy on the Directive.

Patrick McFadden: The UK is one of 14 member states that enables workers to opt-out of the maximum 48-hour working week, should they wish to do so. This flexibility is used by over three million employees in the UK who choose to work longer hours. Loss of this opt-out would therefore cost the UK billions both in costs to industry and lost earnings. As a result, it could also only have a negative impact on overall employment levels.
	The Government remain committed to fight for the continuation of this important flexibility and will be calling on the European Council to reject the damaging amendments on the Working Time Common Position adopted by the European Parliament.

Life Imprisonment: Prisoners Release

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008,  Official Report, column 1018W, on life imprisonment: prisoners release, what period each of the 304 prisoners served in custody before release.

David Hanson: To provide the information requested will require manual checking of two data bases to ensure a fully accurate reply. This information should be available within two weeks. When the information the Member has requested is available, I will write to him, and a copy will placed in the Library of both Houses.

Prisoner Escorts: Prisoner Escapes

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer to question 245155 on 12 January 2009, for what offences each of the prisoners listed as having escaped from escort since 1998 had originally been convicted; and how many of them remain unlawfully at large;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer to question 245155, how many offences were committed by offenders who had escaped from custody while unlawfully at large in the last 10 years; and what the offence was in each case.

David Hanson: Data on the original offences committed by the 434 escapees from escort shown in the previous answer could be provided only by a detailed analysis of each prisoner record. This would incur disproportionate cost. Data available for the last four financial years, April 2004 to March 2008, show that 13 prisoners are still unlawfully at large following the 104 escort-related escapes over that period.
	Data on numbers and types of offence that may have been committed by escapees over this period could be provided only by a detailed analysis of each prisoner record which would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 481W, on prisoners, what assessment he has made of the consequences of the absence of a central record of prisoners maintaining innocence; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) works with prisoners to address their offending behaviour and manage their risk of reoffending on the basis that they have been correctly convicted by the courts. As such, a central record of those who maintain their innocence following conviction would serve no useful purpose.
	It is also open to any person who believes that they have been wrongly convicted to challenge the safety of their convictions through either the Court of Appeal or the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
	Current guidance for Prison Service staff in dealing with prisoners who deny guilt is contained in chapter 7 of (Prison Service Order) PSO 4700 which is available at:
	http://pso.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/pso4700/PSO_4700 _lifer_manual.doc

Witnesses: Autism

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many criminal cases involving a witness with an autistic spectrum disorder a witness intermediary has been used  (a) by the police prior to a trial or to a decision whether to proceed to trial and  (b) by the courts in England in 2008; and in how many such cases prosecutions have been successful.

Maria Eagle: During 2008 13 referrals were made for the use of an intermediary where the witness' communication needs fell under Autistic Spectrum Disorder. However data is not routinely collected as to the stage in a case at which an intermediary was used, either by the police or at trial. Nor is data collected on the outcome of cases in which an intermediary is used.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) men and  (b) women were treated at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford for alcohol-related (i) injuries and (ii) illnesses in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: The only centrally available data on treatment for alcohol-related health problems report on the number of admissions to hospital for alcohol and alcohol-related health problems. An individual may account for more than one admission.
	While it is possible to analyse the admissions data to determine the number of individuals admitted to hospital for alcohol and alcohol-related health problems, this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table shows the number of admissions by primary care trust in Essex for the period covering 2002-03 to 2006-07.
	
		
			  Primary Care Trust Admissions 2002-07 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			   Males  Females  Total  Males  Females  Total  Males  Females  Total 
			 South East Essex 2,032 1,339 3,370 2,097 1,387 3,484 2,652 1,790 4,443 
			 West Essex 1,283 849 2,133 1,502 995 2,498 1,745 1,143 2,888 
			 North East Essex 1,404 902 2,305 1,586 986 2,572 1,714 1,024 2,738 
			 Mid Essex 1,532 992 2,523 1,898 1,319 3,217 2,250 1,442 3,692 
			 South West Essex 1,891 1,141 3,032 1,994 1,280 3,274 2,295 1,367 3,662 
		
	
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			   Males  Females  Total  Males  Females  Total 
			 South East Essex 2,982 1,969 4,951 3,235 2,122 5,357 
			 West Essex 1,949 1,216 3,165 2,253 1,373 3,626 
			 North East Essex 2,227 1,401 3,629 2,365 1,477 3,843 
			 Mid Essex 2,446 1,597 4,043 2,363 1,509 3,872 
			 South West Essex 2,719 1,679 4,398 2,926 1,834 4,760 
			  Notes: Includes activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.  Alcohol-related admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Following international best practice, the NWPHO methodology includes a wide range of diseases and injuries in which alcohol plays a part and estimates the proportion of cases that are attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Details of the conditions and associated proportions can be found in the report Jones et al. (2008) Alcohol-attributable fractions for England: Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions. Figures for under 16s only include admissions where one or more alcohol-specific conditions were listed. This is because the research on which the attributable fractions are based does not cover under 16s. Alcohol-specific conditions are those that are wholly attributed to alcohol - that is, those with an attributable fraction of one. They are: Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (I42.6) Alcoholic gastritis (K29.2) Alcoholic myopathy (G72.1) Alcoholic polyneuropathy (G62.1) Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing's syndrome (E24.4) Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol (G31.2) Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (F10) Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (X45) Ethanol poisoning (T51.0) Methanol poisoning (T51.1) Toxic effect of alcohol, unspecified (T51.9)  Number of episodes in which the patient had an alcohol-related primary or secondary diagnosis These figures represent the number of episodes where an alcohol-related diagnosis was recorded in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if an alcohol-related diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.  Secondary diagnoses As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002-03) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.  Data Quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Dental Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2008,  Official Report, column 946, what the evidential basis is for the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health's statement that access to NHS dentistry has improved since the new contract was introduced.

Ann Keen: Information on the number of patients seen in the 24 months ending March 2006, and the number of patients seen in the 24 months ending June 2008, is available in annex 3, table D1 of NHS Dental Statistics, Q1 2008-09. Information is available at primary care trust (PCT) level. This publication has already been placed in the Library, and is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-q1-2008-09
	This data shows that there are many areas across the country where access has improved. In around 30 per cent. of PCTs the number of patients accessing national health service dental services has increased since the reforms were introduced in April 2006.
	However, we recognise that more remains to be done. This is why we have appointed the independent review team chaired by Professor Jimmy Steele to help us look at what steps we can take to ensure that every person, wherever he or she lives, who actively seeks to access an NHS dentist can do so.

Hospitals: Cleaning Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much hospital trusts in England have spent on cleaning in each financial year since 1997-98.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The Department began the collection of cleaning spend data in 2000-01 from national health service trusts, through its Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). The information available is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Total expenditure on cleaning services ( million) 
			 2000-01 403 
			 2001-02 418 
			 2002-03 460 
			 2003-04 493 
			 2004-05 536 
			 2005-06 616 
			 2006-07 663 
			 2007-08 720 
		
	
	This data has not been amended centrally and therefore its accuracy is the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations.
	The Department has a comprehensive programme of work in place to improve hospital cleanliness. Every hospital in England has already undertaken a deep clean, and the latest Healthcare Commission in-patient survey shows the NHS achieving its highest ever cleanliness rating with 93 per cent. of adults saying their ward was fairly clean or very clean. In the 2008 PEAT (Patient Environment Action Team) scores, over 98 per cent. of hospitals were rated Acceptable, Good or Excellent compared to 2000 when a third were rated as red.
	A new national standard for monitoring cleanliness in health care environments is currently being developed with leading experts in the field of health care cleaning, and will be carried out under the auspices of the British Standards Institute.

Hospitals: Pigmeat

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of pork served in hospitals in  (a) East Devon constituency,  (b) the South West and  (c) England was locally sourced in the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: The recently published Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative report by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for 2007-08 estimated that 99 per cent. of the pork sourced from the national health service Supply Chain's contracts was British and, within this, 47 per cent. of bacon sourced by NHS Supply Chain, was British. NHS Supply Chain calculate that approximately 75 per cent. of trusts purchase from their meat and poultry contract.
	NHS trusts do not have to purchase from this central contract. They are able to award their own contracts and information about these contracts is not held centrally. To get accurate, up to date information from particular NHS regions or trusts, the right hon. Member may wish to contact them direct.

Injuries: Firearms

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished admission episodes there were for gunshot wounds in each NHS trust in each of the last 10 years.

Ben Bradshaw: Information is collected on the number of finished admission episodes to hospital. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	The following table provides data on finished admission episodes for gunshot wounds by each strategic health authority area of residence. It is not possible to provide a response to this question for each national health service trust as the numbers involved are mostly very small and many of them would need to be suppressed in order to preserve confidentiality. The ICD-10 codes used to identify a gunshot wound are included in the background notes to the table.
	It is important that the footnotes and clinical codes are consulted when interpreting the data in the table.
	
		
			  Total number of admissions to hospital where the patient had a cause code of a gunshot wound* broken down by Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of residence for the last 10 years: Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Number of admissions 
			   SHA of residence  2006 - 07  2005 - 06  2004 - 05  2003 - 04  2002 - 03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000  1998-99  1997-98 
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA  32 29 42 23 42 30 45 49 31 
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA  19 16 41 26 21 26 25 14 15 
			 Q03 Essex SHA  21 26 27 29 25 27 37 32 24 
			 Q04 North West London SHA  50 43 71 52 32 29 26 18 35 
			 Q05 North Central London SHA  31 25 38 29 51 29 23 14 22 
			 Q06 North East London SHA  64 48 69 74 59 47 41 26 24 
			 Q07 South East London SHA  75 52 55 55 56 45 38 42 43 
			 Q08 South West London SHA  34 21 23 21 21 13 23 13 18 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA  22 31 35 30 47 52 49 51 41 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley SHA  28 22 25 39 37 28 28 35 31 
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA  41 35 46 41 47 40 29 32 15 
			 Q12 West Yorkshire SHA  69 64 82 83 101 67 63 54 57 
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA  42 54 51 57 63 62 52 44 53 
			 Q14 Greater Manchester SHA  101 108 111 115 123 110 146 96 97 
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside SHA  108 98 116 85 97 69 74 72 58 
			 Q16 Thames Valley SHA  29 23 34 31 36 37 37 23 27 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA  27 24 34 19 32 27 32 23 26 
			 Q18 Kent and Medway SHA  26 33 32 30 47 28 14 20 24 
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex SHA  39 44 40 28 42 27 25 39 31 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA  40 39 40 43 48 31 39 27 34 
			 Q21 South West Peninsula SHA  22 27 36 26 24 29 31 24 25 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset SHA  28 14 14 11 29 14 13 23 15 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire SHA  50 55 40 62 61 48 42 38 24 
			 Q24 Trent SHA  52 46 74 83 69 46 66 63 54 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA  19 22 25 16 28 28 27 25 32 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA  23 14 25 29 28 29 37 28 30 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country SHA  67 73 76 89 86 62 59 27 50 
			 Q28 West Midlands South SHA  38 44 37 28 21 24 26 22 18 
			 Q30 North East SHA 71  
			 Q31 North West SHA 278  
			 Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber SHA 138  
			 Q33 East Midlands SHA 96  
			 Q34 West Midlands SHA 172  
			 Q35 East of England SHA 103  
			 Q36 London SHA 209  
			 Q37 South East Coast SHA 73  
			 Q38 South Central SHA 57  
			 Q39 South West SHA 79  
			 U England  Not otherwise specified 3 15 7 13 8 8 0   2 
			  Other/Unknown/Foreign SHAs 36 21 26 18 25 39 18 23 13 38 
			  Total 1,315 1,233 1,163 1,370 1,287 1,420 1,122 1,170 987 994 
		
	
	
		
			  Rates per 100,000 of population 
			   SHA of Residence  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000  1998-99  1997-98 
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA  1.41 1.29 1.89 1.05 1.93 1.38 2.09 2.28 1.46 
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA  1.16 0.98 2.53 1.61 1.31 1.63 1.58 0.89 0.96 
			 Q03 Essex SHA  1.27 1.58 1.65 1.78 1.55 1.68 2.32 2.02 1.52 
			 Q04 North West London SHA  2.73 2.38 3.95 2.89 1.79 1.65 1.51 1.06 2.07 
			 Q05 North Central London SHA  2.50 2.04 3.12 2.39 4.25 2.45 1.97 1.21 1.91 
			 Q06 North East London SHA  4.17 3.13 4.50 4.83 3.88 3.13 2.76 1.77 1.65 
			 Q07 South East London SHA  4.91 3.43 3.64 3.63 3.69 2.99 2.55 2.85 2.94 
			 Q08 South West London SHA  2.57 1.60 1.76 1.61 1.61 1.01 1.80 1.03 1.43 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA  1.58 2.23 2.51 2.15 3.37 3.72 3.49 3.61 2.89 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley SHA  2.43 1.91 2.18 3.40 3.23 2.44 2.44 3.04 2.69 
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA  2.44 2.10 2.79 2.50 2.89 2.47 1.80 1.99 0.93 
			 Q12 West Yorkshire SHA  3.22 3.02 3.90 3.96 4.85 3.23 3.04 2.60 2.75 
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA  2.16 2.79 2.65 2.98 3.31 3.26 2.74 2.31 2.79 
			 Q14 Greater Manchester SHA  3.97 4.26 4.39 4.57 4.89 4.37 5.80 3.81 3.85 
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside SHA  4.59 4.17 4.93 3.62 4.12 2.93 3.14 3.04 2.44 
			 Q16 Thames Valley SHA  1.35 1.08 1.61 1.47 1.71 1.77 1.78 1.11 1.31 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA  1.48 1.33 1.89 1.06 1.80 1.52 1.81 1.31 1.49 
			 Q18 Kent and Medway SHA  1.60 2.05 2.00 1.89 2.97 1.78 0.90 1.29 1.55 
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex SHA  1.50 1.70 1.55 1.09 1.64 1.06 0.98 1.55 1.24 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA  1.79 1.76 1.82 1.97 2.21 1.43 1.81 1.26 1.60 
			 Q21 South West Peninsula SHA  1.35 1.67 2.25 1.63 1.52 1.85 2.00 1.56 1.63 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset SHA  2.31 1.16 1.16 0.92 2.43 1.18 1.11 1.96 1.29 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire SHA  3.88 4.30 3.14 4.88 4.82 3.79 3.31 2.98 1.88 
			 Q24 Trent SHA  1.92 1.71 2.77 3.13 2.62 1.76 2.53 2.42 2.08 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA  1.18 1.38 1.58 1.02 1.80 1.81 1.75 1.63 2.10 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA  1.52 0.93 1.67 1.94 1.88 1.95 2.50 1.89 2.04 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country SHA  2.93 3.20 3.34 3.92 3.80 2.73 2.59 1.18 2.19 
			 Q28 West Midlands South SHA  2.45 2.85 2.40 1.83 1.38 1.58 1.72 1.46 1.20 
			 Q30 North East SHA 2.78  
			 Q31 North West SHA 4.06  
			 Q32 Yorkshire and The Humber SHA 2.68  
			 Q33 East Midlands SHA 2.20  
			 Q34 West Midlands SHA 3.20  
			 Q35 East of England SHA 1.84  
			 Q36 London SHA 2.78  
			 Q37 South East Coast SHA 1.72  
			 Q38 South Central SHA 1.43  
			 Q39 South West SHA 1.54  
			  Notes:  Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  * Cause Code - Gunshot Wounds The cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. HES has used the following ICD-10 external cause codes when referring to gunshot wounds  Gunshot wounds: W32.- Handgun discharge W33.- Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge W34.- Discharge from other and unspecified firearms X72- Intentional self-harm by handgun discharge X73- Intentional self-harm by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X74- Intentional self-harm by other and unspecified firearm discharge X93- Assault by handgun discharge X94- Assault by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X95- Assault by other and unspecified firearm discharge Y22.- Handgun discharge, undetermined intent Y23.- Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y24- Other and unspecified firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y35.0 Legal intervention involving firearm discharge Y36.4 War operations involving firearm discharge and other forms of conventional warfare.  Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  PCT/SHA data quality PCT and SHA data was added to historic data years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of GP practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data.  Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

NHS: Cleaning Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health according to the most recent ERIC returns made to his Department, how much each NHS trust spent on cleaning services; what their audit score against national specifications for cleanliness for the NHS was; and how many whole time equivalent cleaning staff they employed.

Ann Keen: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
	Estates returns information collection returns are not amended centrally and therefore their accuracy is the responsibility of the contributing national health service organisations.

Smoking

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults aged 35 and over were admitted to hospital with diseases caused by smoking in  (a) North Yorkshire and  (b) England in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 2006-07.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available in the exact format requested. Data for 1996-97 is not available for both England and North Yorkshire. Figures for North Yorkshire County are not collected. Data for England and for North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trusts (PCT) are available for 2006-07.
	Detailed Information on specific diseases that can be caused by smoking for England 2006-07 is available from the Statistics on Smoking: England, 2008. This information can be found in table 5.2 on page 83. This publication has already been placed in the Library.
	Figures are available and provided on the number of admissions in National Health Service hospitals for those aged 35 and over with a primary diagnosis of diseases that can be caused by smoking and estimates of the number of those admissions that are attributable to smoking.
	The following table shows the number of admissions for those aged 35 and over with a primary diagnosis of various diseases that can be caused by smoking and estimates of the number of those admissions that can be attributed to smoking. Figures have been provided for 2006-07 in England and for North Yorkshire and York PCT. It is acknowledged that not all of the observed admissions included in the table will be attributable to smoking as there are other contributory factors to these diseases. Therefore the relative risks of these diseases for current and ex-smokers, compared to non-smokers have been used to estimate smoking-attributable admissions.
	
		
			  NHS( 1)  hospital admissions( 2)  for primary diagnosis( 3)  of diseases that can be caused by smoking and those attributable to smoking , 2006-07 
			Number 
			   Observed admissions( 4)  Smoking attributable admissions( 5) 
			 England 1,431,831 445,100 
			 North Yorkshire and York PCT 22,053 6,800 
			  Notes: (1) The data include private patients in NHS hospitals (but not private patients in private hospitals). (2) A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (3) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (4) Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data. Observed admissions only includes those where gender was recorded (5) Estimated attributable number, rounded to the nearest 100

Departmental Data Protection

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 398W, on departmental data protection, where the data centres are located; who manages them; and what steps have been taken to test their physical security.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Data Centres used by the Department are located in North East England and are managed, on behalf of the Department, by EDS. Regular tests and formal audits are undertaken by both EDS and the Department to ensure that physical security barriers, controls and processes associated with their operation and effectiveness conform to agreed requirements. The tests are in line with Information Systems Security Standards (ISSS).

Departmental ICT

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 399W, on departmental ICT, if he will place in the Library a copy of the risk management framework referred to in the answer.

Jonathan R Shaw: It is not in the interests of the Department's security arrangements for details to be published of the approaches that are taken in identifying and responding to particular risks to IT systems. Such information, if published, could assist those intent on undermining the Department's IT security, and could prejudice the Department's efforts to protect information, including personal data in respect of individuals. This is not in the public interest. I refer the hon. Member to the answer in the official record for 17 December 2008,  Official Report column 826W, which sets out the Department's approach to data and information security.

Departmental ICT

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 400W, on departmental ICT, what priorities for improvement were identified as a result of the annual user satisfaction surveys in each of the last 10 years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department has conducted an IT and Telephony survey of staff in each of the last three years. The overall assessment of the Department's IT and telephony systems was positive in all three years. In each year scope for improvement of some IT applications and telephony were identified. Improvement programmes and better IT user guidance have been implemented as a result.

Departmental ICT

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 400W, on departmental ICT, if he will place a copy in the Library of his Department's business contingency plans referred to in the Answer.

Jonathan R Shaw: It is not in the interests of the Department or its stakeholders to publish the detailed plans that apply to the protection of its business processes. To do so could enable individuals to deduce how successful the Department is in protecting its systems and identifying vulnerabilities, which might assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the Department's controls, or otherwise causing mischievous disruption to the Department. This would not be in the public interest.
	However the Department's Business Continuity policy and guidance documents are publicly available on the UK Resilience website:
	http://www.ukresilience.gov.uk/preparedness/ccact/good_practice/methodology.aspx

Departmental ICT

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 401W, on departmental ICT, which are the projects which have IT input.

Jonathan R Shaw: All 19 of the major business change programmes are supported by IT. They are listed in appendix 1 of the report of the National Audit Office to the Work and Pensions Select Committee (Department for Work and Pensions: Information Technology Programmes), a copy of which is in the Library. They include programmes which will improve the deployment of financial information, for example the Central Payment System, and programmes to deliver efficient and effective services to the Department's customers, for example the Department for Work and Pensions Change Programme.

Employment: Lone Parents

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the average income for a lone parent with a single child in their first year back into work if they worked on average  (a) 16 hours,  (b) 18 hours,  (c) 20 hours,  (d) 22 hours,  (e) 24 hours,  (f) 26 hours,  (g) 28 hours,  (h) 30 hours,  (i) 32 hours,  (j) 34 hours,  (k) 36 hours,  (l) 38 hours and  (m) 40 hours, per week in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: Information on the average income for a lone parent with a single child in their first year back into work is not available.
	The available information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Median net weekly income for lone parents with a single child in work by hours of work, 2006-07 
			  Number of hours worked per week  Median net weekly income () 
			 Under 20 248 
			 20-30 282 
			 30-40 324 
			 40 or over 403 
			 All 312 
			  Notes: 1. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 26,000 households. 2. Data for 2006-07 was collected between April 2006 and March 2007. 3. The figures are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error. 4. The FRS does not collect details on when the respondent started work. So the estimates include lone parents who may always have been in work and never on benefits. 5. The categories for the number of hours worked have been grouped together owing to small sample sizes. 6. Weekly income is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting.  Source: Family Resources Survey

Poverty

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Department's estimate is of the number and proportion of adults  (a) who were out of work and in poverty and  (b) who had moved out of poverty as a result of moving into work in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The information on the number and proportion of adults who were out of work and in poverty is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number and risk of working age adults living in households with incomes less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income who are not in work, before and after housing costs, United Kingdom 
			   Before housing costs  After housing costs 
			   Number (million)  Proportion (percentage)  Number (million)  Proportion (percentage) 
			 2002-03 3.4 37 4.3 47 
			 2003-04 3.3 37 4.3 47 
			 2004-05 3.2 35 4.0 44 
			 2005-06 3.4 37 4.3 47 
			 2006-07 3.5 38 4.5 48 
			  Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey and Low Income Dynamics data, sourced from the British Household Panel Survey. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures is single financial years. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or equivalised) for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using OECD equalisation factors. 6. Numbers of adults have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 and proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage. 7. Adults have been classified as workless if they are unemployed or economically inactive. 8. Adults have been classified as being of working age if they are 64 or below for men or 59 or below for women.  Source: Households Below Average Income 
		
	
	Information on the number and proportion of adults who had moved out of poverty as a result of moving into work is not available. Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue with many different factors acting at the same time in moving individuals into or out of poverty.
	The risk of a working age adult who is working being in a low income household in the United Kingdom in 2006-07 is much lower at 7 per cent. (before housing costs) and 11 per cent. (after housing costs), than for workless working age adults, where the equivalent proportions are 38 per cent. (before housing costs) and 48 per cent. (after housing costs) as shown in the aforementioned table. Data from the Low Income Dynamics publication illustrates that an increase in the number of workers or full time workers in a household greatly increases the likelihood of that household moving out of low income. The Low Income Dynamics paper is available in the Library.

Winter Fuel Payments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the level of winter heating allowance which would need to be paid in order to prevent all excess winter deaths attributable to lack of heating.

Rosie Winterton: Although excess winter mortality is associated with low temperatures, conditions directly relating to cold, such as hypothermia, are not the main cause of excess winter mortality.
	Mortality in the winter months is consistently higher than at other times of the year. Although influenza and health complications arising from cold weather influence the number of excess winter deaths, lack of heating is only one contributing factor that may affect a particular case. It is not therefore possible to estimate a level of winter fuel payment that would prevent all excess winter deaths attributable to lack of heating.
	Winter fuel payments are one part of the overall Government programme to support vulnerable groups in winter. The programme also includes the annual seasonal influenza vaccination programme which offers free flu jabs to people most at risk from potentially life-threatening complications of flu; cold weather payments for vulnerable groups, which have been increased to 25 for 2008-09, and the Warm Front Scheme which focuses on improving home energy efficiency. Warm Front funding has been increased to over 950 million for the three-year period to March 2011, (with 50 million of the existing allocation being spent a year sooner than planned, ensuring that up to 30,000 vulnerable households will have less time to wait for their heating or insulation measures to be fitted).

Children: Missing Persons

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have gone missing from local authority care homes in each local authority in the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: The following table provides information on the number of children in care in each local authority that have gone missing from children homes in England for the years ending 31 March 2004 to 2008.
	
		
			  Children looked after who went missing from care during the years ending 31 March, by local authority1,2,3,4,5, years ending 31 March 2004 to 2008coverage: England 
			   All children looked after who went missing from care  Children looked after who went missing from children's homes only 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			  England 730 860 980 0 280 260 290 0 0 0 
			
			  North East 30 20 20 0 20 20 10 0 0 0 
			 Darlington  0  0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Durham 0  0 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gateshead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Hartlepool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Middlesbrough 0  0 0  0  0 0 0 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Tyneside  5  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumberland 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0  0 0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 South Tyneside 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Stockton-on-Tees   0 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Sunderland 20 10 15 0 20 15 10 0 0 0 
			
			  North West 100 120 140 0 70 50 70 0 0 0 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0   0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Blackpool 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bolton 20 30 30 0 20 20 20 0 0 0 
			 Bury  5  00 0 0 
			 Cheshire0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Halton  0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Knowsley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Lancashire 10 10  0  5  0 0 0 
			 Liverpool 10 20 15 0   10 0 0 0 
			 Manchester 10 5 10 00 0 0 
			 Oldham   5 0 10   0 0 0 
			 Rochdale  0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Salford  0  0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Sefton  10 5 0   10 0 0 0 
			 St Helens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Stockport 10 10 15 0 10  5 0 0 0 
			 Tameside  15 10 0   5 0 0 0 
			 Trafford   15 00 0 0 
			 Warrington  0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Wigan   5 0  0  0 0 0 
			 Wirral0 0 0  0 0 0 
			
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 70 60 70 0 20 20 20 0 0 0 
			 Barnsley 15  0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 
			 Bradford 10 15 10 0   5 0 0 0 
			 Calderdale 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Doncaster  10  0 0 0 5 0 0 0 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire0   0 0 0 0 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 5 5 0 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Kirklees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Leeds 30 5 15 0   0 0 0 0 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0  5 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Lincolnshire 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 0 5  0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Rotherham   25 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Sheffield0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Wakefield0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 York 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			  East Midlands 40 30 20 0 10  10 0 0 0 
			 Derby0   0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Leicester 5   00 0 0 
			 Leicestershire0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Lincolnshire0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 20 10  0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Nottingham   0 0  0  0 0 0 
			 Nottinghamshire0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Rutland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			  West Midlands 60 100 110 0 30 10 40 0 0 0 
			 Birmingham 20 30 5 0 10 5 15 0 0 0 
			 Coventry 5 10 10 00 0 0 
			 Dudley 10 10 10 0 5  10 0 0 0 
			 Herefordshire 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Sandwell 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Shropshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Solihull   10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Staffordshire  5 10 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 0 5 25 0  0  0 0 0 
			 Telford and Wrekin 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Walsall 5 10 20 00 0 0 
			 Warwickshire 10 10 10 0   0 0 0 0 
			 Wolverhampton 5 5 10 00 0 0 
			 Worcestershire0 0 0  0 0 0 
			
			  East of England 60 60 60 0 20 10 10 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 5 5 0 00 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire  5 5 00 0 0 
			 Essex 20 15 30 0 10  5 0 0 0 
			 Hertfordshire   5 00 0 0 
			 Luton 5 5 5 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Norfolk  10  0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Peterborough 10 5  0  0  0 0 0 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0 5 5 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Thurrock 10  0 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			  London 250 270 310 0 70 100 80 0 0 0 
			 Inner London 120 110 120 0 20 50 40 0 0 0 
			 Camden 20 5  0 0 10 5 0 0 0 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Hackney 10 5 5 0 0 5  0 0 0 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham  5  0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Haringey 25 25 15 0  10 10 0 0 0 
			 Islington 10 10  0  10  0 0 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0  20 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Lambeth 15 10 25 0 5   0 0 0 
			 Lewisham 15 20  0  5 5 0 0 0 
			 Newham   15 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southwark 5 10 10 0  5  0 0 0 
			 Tower Hamlets   5 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Wandsworth0   0 0 0 0 
			 Westminster 5 10 15 00 0 0 
			
			  Outer London 120 160 190 0 50 50 50 0 0 0 
			 Barking and Dagenham 10 15 25 00 0 0 
			 Barnet 10 10 5 0  5  0 0 0 
			 Bexley 0 5 5 0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Brent 20 20 30 0  10 5 0 0 0 
			 Bromley   0 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Croydon 0  10 0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Ealing 20 10  0  10  0 0 0 
			 Enfield  10 15 0 5   0 0 0 
			 Greenwich 10  10 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Harrow 5  0 00 0 0 
			 Havering  5 10 00 0 0 
			 Hillingdon 15 25 25 0 10  10 0 0 0 
			 Hounslow 10 15 10 0 10  5 0 0 0 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Merton 5  5 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Redbridge 10 20 10 0  5 10 0 0 0 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Sutton  10 15 0  0  0 0 0 
			 Waltham Forest 0  10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			
			  South East 80 130 180 0 30 30 40 0 0 0 
			 Bracknell Forest   5 0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Brighton and Hove 10 5  0   0 0 0 0 
			 Buckinghamshire 0 0  0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 East Sussex  5 0 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Hampshire 10 15 50 0  10 5 0 0 0 
			 Isle of Wight0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 20 50 35 0 15 10 25 0 0 0 
			 Medway Towns 5   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Milton Keynes  5 5 0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Portsmouth   0 00 0 0 
			 Reading   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Slough 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southampton 5 5 30 0 5   0 0 0 
			 Surrey 5 20 35 0  0  0 0 0 
			 West Berkshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Sussex0 0 0  0 0 0 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead   0 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Wokingham  5  0   0 0 0 0 
			
			  South West 40 70 70 0 10 10 10 0 0 0 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 0   0  0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bournemouth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bristol, City of0   0 0 0 0 
			 Cornwall  10 15 00 0 0 
			 Devon  20 15 0 0  5 0 0 0 
			 Dorset 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gloucestershire0  0  0 0 0 
			 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Somerset 10 5 5 00 0 0 
			 Plymouth 10 5 15 0 0   0 0 0 
			 Poole0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Somerset 0   0  0  0 0 0 
			 South Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Swindon 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Torbay  10 10 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Wiltshire  5  0 0   0 0 0 
			 (1) Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of shortterm placements. (3) Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. (4) Children who went missing on more than one occasion during the year have been counted once. (5) Includes looked after children who were missing from care for a period of more than 24 hours.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many young people entitled to the education maintenance allowance received no payments between 1 September 2008 and 31 December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The helpline, assessment and payment function for EMA has transferred to Capita as from 28 November 2008. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member for Yeovil with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many education maintenance allowance claims have yet to be processed; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many education maintenance allowance claims have been lost since  (a) 1 September 2008 and  (b) 1 December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The helpline, assessment and payment function for EMA transferred to Capita as from 28 November 2008. Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive, will write to the hon. Member for Yeovil with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Head Teachers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the local area pilots to improve head teacher succession planning within and across schools; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: In 2006, we asked the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) to develop and lead a succession planning strategy. As part of this, NCSL has rolled out the local solutions approach nationally. 148(1) local authorities have signed partnership agreements with NCSL to continue to address the succession challenge, which includes a particular focus leadership diversification and the challenges faced by small primaries and faith schools. The local solutions programme is being evaluated externally by Warwick university and is due to report in early 2010. Evidence so far shows that 91 per cent. of LAs are better prepared to tackle succession planning than when they first engaged with the programme in 2007, and that LAs are making progress in supporting schools to better develop and mentor leaders and establish effective leadership cultures. NCSL's internal evaluation indicates that LAs are making good progress in assessing their data and developing, implementing and monitoring their local strategies. The succession planning programme met its 2008-09 targets to stabilise headship vacancies and temporary filled posts.
	(1) The Isles of Scilly and the City of London LAs have not signed partnership agreements. The small number of schools within these LAs participate in the programme by working with neighbouring LAs.

Schools: Accountancy

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the 2006-07 Consistent Financial Reporting Framework to support improved financial reporting and benchmarking by schools;
	(2)  whether the functionality to allow schools to be identified by name on the school financial benchmarking website has been implemented.

Jim Knight: Consistent financial reporting provides a detailed breakdown of the income and expenditure of each maintained school in England. It was introduced in 2002-03 and has subsequently undergone only minor revisions.
	The data underpins the schools financial benchmarking website. The site provides schools with the tools to compare their expenditure with that of similar schools. They can then tailor their spending and re-allocate resources to ensure that education spending reflects local educational policy and priorities and is effective in delivering them. During the 2007/08 academic year the site was accessed by over 10,000 schools and it is also used by local authorities.
	There may be occasions where a school might want to contact another about its data, clarify their expenditure and discuss ways to address particular problems. In order to facilitate this, charts are now labelled with school names and their unique seven digit local authority and establishment number. Where names and number labels do not appear, the data has been suppressed in line with data protection rules to ensure that salary information for individuals cannot be identified. School names are only made available for registered users of the website, specifically schools and local authorities. Other users may access benchmarking information under 'guest user' terms but named data will not be visible to further protect the anonymity of individuals and schools.
	In October and November 2008 the Department's efficiency and value for money team included CFR and benchmarking presentations in six regional conferences. These conferences were aimed at local authority education finance staff and auditors. Overall, participants were very positive about the effectiveness of the benchmarking website and CFR. They particularly welcomed the ease with which they were able to access information to allow comparison and to identify and flag up important resource trends.

Schools: Standards

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many schools were in special measures on 1 December 2008;
	(2)  how many schools were classed as requiring significant improvement on 1 December 2008.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of schools requiring special measures and significant improvement (notice to improve) at 31 August 2008. It reflects the latest information published by Ofsted. Data for the autumn term 2008 is due to be published at the end of this month.
	
		
			   Number of schools requiring special measures at 31 August 2008  Number of schools requiring significant improvement at 31 August 2008 
			 Primary 157 168 
			 Secondary 50 70 
			 Special 14 2 
			 Pupil referral unit 12 1 
			 Total 233 241